Interim director of DIA denies board violated sunshine laws

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The process of selecting Lori Boyer as the new CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority is being scrutinized.

According to Carla Miller, the city’s ethics director:

"It is my understanding that there were scoring sheets that the dia board members filled out on the applicants.  Those scoring sheets did not have the name of the person on it who filled out the form. The scoring sheets were gathered up and the numbers added up to determine who would be the CEO.  But, you cannot tell how each person individually voted.
This is in the nature of an anonymous vote and it will have to be "cured" under Florida law at the next meeting of the DIA."

But Brian Hughes, who is serving as the interim director of the DIA said they didn’t violate the sunshine law at the May 15 meeting.

In a statement sent to Action News Jax he said:

"On behalf of the DIA and in consultation with the Office of General Counsel, the DIA Board did not violate the Sunshine law at its duly noticed, Wednesday, May 15, 2019 meeting.  The DIA Board action to nominate Ms. Boyer as its next CEO was taken by a voice vote in compliance with the Sunshine law, and not by way of a secret ballot.

At its May 15th meeting, the DIA Board interviewed three candidates for its CEO position, and after each interview the Board members completed and submitted an evaluation for each candidate.  At the conclusion of the interviews, the numeric component of the evaluations were tallied and a ranking of the three candidates was provided to the Board.  While the Board at that juncture could have voted for any of the candidates, it chose to vote based on its objective review of those rankings.  Accordingly, the Board then voted to enter into negotiations with the highest-ranking candidate, Council Member Boyer, to be its next CEO.

While it is our position that no Sunshine violation took place, I will consult individually with the DIA Board members and the Office of General Counsel as to any potential additional action the Board may wish to take with regard to this matter."

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